Love is Love
by IWriteFanficsNStuffLulz
Summary: Basically an OCxCanon fic. This story takes place around Valentine's Day, and Rita finally found that special someone to be with, Cree as well a while after her previous boyfriend broke up with her. However, they face many issues along the way. This isn't Rita's first appearance, there are many backstories behind this one that I might post here. So please don't be confused with her
1. The Secret

NOTE: _THIS FANFIC CONTAINS LGBT THEMES, SO IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, PLEASE IGNORE THIS AND MOVE ON. It is also an OCxCanon fanfic (Cree Lincoln and my OC Rita). This is not Rita's first appearance, there will be backstories behind this one. So don't get confused, please. Otherwise, ENJOY._

Chapter 1: The Big Secret

It was near the dusk of February 14th. Maurice and Chad Dickson were walking in the neighborhood.

"Soooo, did you get back together with Cree yet?" Chad asked his friend.

"I told her last year, we were done until I see that she genuinely sorted things out with Rita. What she did was unacceptable, so I'll still give her more time to work things out," Maurice replied.

"Goodness, how long will this keep up?"

Suddenly, they spotted Rita on the other side of the road, holding what appeared to be a bouquet of various types of flowers and a plush doll.

"Heh, looks like McKatsworth finally got herself a bf. Never thought she'd manage," Chad sneered. "Let's go see who the Romeo is."

"Whoawhoawhoa," Maurice interrupted. "We can't just invade her privacy like that. It isn't right…"

"That's why we're going to do it… in _private._" Chad whispered. "Just follow my lead, and don't make a sound."

Maurice just sighed and did what he was told.

The two quietly followed Rita to wherever she was headed, but made sure they weren't seen.

It took about 7 minutes until Maurice piped up.

"You sure this is a good-" Chad cut him off by shushing him, only frustrating the 13-year-old.

"Shush! I think this is it…!"

Luckily Rita didn't see them as she finally made it to the doorsteps of her lover's house.

"Wait for it…"

Rita knocked on the door.

"Here he comes… wait a second…"

The door opened to reveal… Cree…

"Wait… that's Cree's house… So she likes... Cree…?"

Rita handed the doll and flowers over to Cree, who happily accepted the presents. Then they both hugged each other tight for a few seconds before bidding each other adieu. The whole situation left the two boys taken quite aback. That is until Chad broke the silence by loudly whispering.

"That's sick, I didn't know that Rita likes girls…!"

"What's so wrong about it?"

"What's so- bruh! Cree and Rita are both girls. Don't tell me there's nothing weird about them being together. Plus, that's your ex girlfriend. We should do something…"

"Chad, I seriously don't see what the problem is. I mean, it's not really that different from a girl and a dude dating," Maurice replied, facepalming.

Chad began to get slightly annoyed at Maurice's persistency.

"It's not NORMAL, Maurice," Chad said, walking home.

"What I'm trying to say is, you can think that it's not normal. But what you think doesn't define their relationship as wrong!" Maurice called. But Chad just ignored him.


	2. Date n Gossip

Chapter Two: Date 'n' Gossip

A sunny weekend had come and a lot of people in the neighborhood; kids, adults, and some teens alike, were enjoying the warm sunshine on such a chilly February day. Some threw snowballs, some just sat on their porches, and some were just taking a walk. However, there was a little more happening at the Lincoln Residence.

"Just going over to Rita's house, Mom," Cree called as she went for the front door.

"Rita?" Mrs. Lincoln said, puzzled.

"Your friend's house? Again? Why not your new boyfriend? You could go over to his house today," Mr. Lincoln suggested.

For a moment, Cree tried to think of a way to not blurt out that it was Rita she was in a relationship with.

"Uhhhh… he's at his job at the moment, so he's not home," Cree tried not to sound nervous or suspicious as she quickly walked out the door. However, her little sister, Numbuh 5 had listened to the conversation herself, and being Numbuh 5, she had her suspicions already. Well it was more of curiosity than anything, but she was eager to find out what was up.

"Mom? Dad? I'm going out too," she said as she too left without another word. She watched as Cree walked off down the pavement. As soon as she was far away enough, Numbuh 5 began to follow behind her.

Meanwhile, Rita was freshening up for her date in her own house, after a big day of getting her nails done, her hair cut to shoulder length, her teeth brushed, and shaved all in one.

"Ahhh… today's gon' be good…" she sighed, putting on a T-shirt with a long sleeve underneath it. She wanted to look as cute as possible when Cree showed up. Soon enough the doorbell rang and she rushed downstairs to welcome her new girlfriend.

"Helloooo~?" Rita purred, slowly opening the door, putting on her softest face, much to Cree's delight.

"Well don't you just look adorable today?" Cree chirped back. Rita giggled at that comment.

"Why doncha come on in? Ah've got stuff in mah'nd."

Cree felt her heart beat faster with excitement as she stepped inside of Rita's house. She couldn't wait to see what was in store. By the time they got upstairs, Rita's heart was pounding as well.

"So, ah've got stuff lah'k… games, ah' could serenade ya with mah guitar, maybe we might could go out somewhere…? Hey, yer good at singin', right?"

"Yeah?" Cree answered, not sure what she wanted to do.

"Ah' was hopin' to go out to eat with ya, but first, ah' wanna sing a duet on the guitar. Ah' mean, ah' ain't got the best pipes in the world, but really, ah'd strain an ankle to hear yer sweet voice again!" Cree blushed at this statement.

"Well I'm sure your voice sounds just fine, and matches your beautiful personality," she said, following Rita into her bedroom, where Rita began to search for her guitar, eventually revealing it and sitting down on her bed.

"So, what's on your mind for this, 'duet'?" Cree asked, chuckling slightly.

"Well, ya know that Cyndi Lauper gal?"

"Yes! I often listen to her songs."

"Ah' was thinkin' we could do a slow version of one of her songs. It's called 'True Colors.'"

"I don't know if I remember that one clearly. How does it go again?"

Then Rita began to play a tune on her guitar.

_You with the sad eyes,_

_Don't be discouraged..._

Cree just listened to her girlfriend sing in that sweet little southern accent of hers.

_Oh ah' realize…_

_It's hard to take courage,_

_In a world full of people,_

_You could lose sight of it all,_

_And the darkness inside you_

_Can make you feel so small._

As soon as Rita finished that verse, Cree squealed.

"I remember now! Please continue, that was beautiful!" she said excitedly.

"Only if you'll follow along," Rita said as she resumed playing her guitar and singing.

_Show me a smile, then,_

_Don't be unhappy, _

Both: _Can't remember when_

_I last saw you laughing…_

Meanwhile, Numbuh 5 was latched by the bedroom window, secretly watching the two girls singing together.

"... what is goin' on with my sister lately…?" she said in her mind. "It's almost like…" she let out a gasp as she then jumped off the ledge of the window. Then she made a mad dash for the treehouse.

When she got into the treehouse, she shouted out of the blue:

"MAH SISTER AND THAT RITA GIRL ARE TOGETHER!" this random outburst startled her friends as they turned.

"Uhhh…" Numbuh 4 began before being cut off by Numbuh 5 clearing her throat.

"Numbuh 5's got some concerns… I've noticed that Cree's been going over to Rita's house more often than before… almost too often. They also compliment each other a lot, and when I was spying on them, they were SINGING together. I've never seen my sister acting so close with another girl… I know this sounds weird, but… I think that Cree and Rita might be… more than just friends."

There was a short silence. Nigel, Hoagie, Kuki and Wally all looked at each other. Then they all began either snickering, or facepalming.

"That is the most prepost-a-merous thing I've EVER heard!" Numbuh 4 piped up.

"Yeah, Numbuh 5. Two girls, in LOVE with each OTHER? That just doesn't make any sense to me," Numbuh 2 added.

"Yeah, I thought that girls only fell in love with boys!" Numbuh 3 added one last time.

"I know that it sounds weird… but I saw what Rita gave her last night; flowers and a plush doll. Remember when Rita made that doll resembling Cree?"

"Yyyeah?"

"I got a close enough look at Cree's doll, and… it resembled Rita," Numbuh 5 said hesitantly.

"Mmmm… still don't believe you, Numbuh 5," Numbuh 1 interjected. "As weird as teenagers are, I'm sure they wouldn't go so far as that."

"Yeah, it sounds a lot like all the stuff that best friends typically do together…" Numbuh 2 added.

"Do best friends give each other flowers and stuff on VALENTINE'S DAY? I don't think so," Numbuh 5 argued.

"Meh, I'll have to see it to believe it," Numbuh 4 said, casually.

"Okay, fine," Numbuh 5 said, now frustrated at her friends' ignorance. "I'll show you. Come on."

They all went out into the neighborhood to look for Rita's house. Soon enough they found it, and looked in through Rita's bedroom window, only to find no one in there. Just a bed by a closet and a few stuffed animals. Numbuh 1 sighed with frustration as he spoke.

"Numbuh 5, this is just ridiculous. They're not even home!"

"They musta gone somewhere. Probably don't want us getting suspicious of this whole ordeal," explained Numbuh 5.

"What is there to be suspicious about?" Numbuh 3 exclaimed. "They're just friends! Everyone knows that girls only fall in love with boys!" Numbuh 5 just sighs at this.

Meanwhile, Cree and Rita were in the R&B, finishing up some burgers.

"Hm~ thanks for takin' me out for brunch, Cree," Rita said, chomping on her sandwich.

"Hey, anytime! This IS a pretty good place to go if you like burgers, sweetie."

"Ah' agree wholeheartedly. Out of all the burger joints ah've been to, this one beats the others."

Cree just sat back watching as Rita swallowed the last few bites of her burger. Sorta gluttonous, yet somewhat elegant at the same time.

"Alright, ah'm full and finished."

"Let's go, then!"

The two then walked out of the restaurant and hopped on Cree's bicycle, where they took a nice ride around the neighborhood, and finally dropping off Rita at her house.

"Ah' guess that ah'll see ya tomorrow, right?"

"I don't think I can, gotta do my homework and other stuff. I'll see you Monday though, for sure," Cree promised as they pulled into each other for a quick kiss, and just as they did, a sudden bright flash appeared a few feet away from them. They both turned to find nothing.

"Uhhh, what was that?" Rita asked, confused at what the heck just happened.

"Eh, I guess we're just seeing things," Cree responded.

"Anyways, so long, my sweet potato," Rita cooed.

"You too, jellybean," Cree cooed back before they parted ways.

Meanwhile, Chad and Maurice were hiding in the bushes as Chad held up the picture of you-know-what. Maurice sighed.

"Okay, I REALLY don't see why you're doing this and I REALLY don't agree with it."

"The school needs to know."

"Not really, Chad. It's not that big of a deal."

"Us normal people think otherwise." At this point, Maurice was starting to get completely ticked off at his friend's selfish arrogance.

"Ok, FINE! Do what you want, but stop dragging ME into this, cuz I don't agree with it!" Maurice walked out of the bushes. "But when karma comes back and slaps you in the face, don't come crying to me." Then he walked off, grumbling to himself.

"Okay," Chad replied, in an almost casual tone. "You'll just be missing out on all the fun." He snickered as he took one more look at the photo.


	3. Chapter 3: An Unaccepting Crowd

The next Monday had come, and there was some rather incessant chatter at McClintock High. Many teenagers were either texting, passing notes in class, or just whispering in each other's ears.

All the while Rita was wondering what or WHO the heck they were all communicating about, especially considering that this has been going on since that morning. She pretended it wasn't happening though, and continued to work on whatever papers she had then.

During passing time is when things really started to go downhill. Students started to look at her funny, as if they just saw her do something really disgusting. Some even sneered at her. Then after the last class of the day, Cree showed up.

"Oh, howdy, Cree-"

"Sh! not so loud… hi. There's something I want to talk about." Just then they saw two other students snickering and making smoochy noises at them, before walking off.

"Quite the mature couple, ain't they…" Rita said sarcastically before she and Cree walked into the girl's restroom and into one of the empty stalls.

"Ok, listen. A lot of my friends have been acting weird towards me lately. Shooting me hairy looks, whispering in each other's ears when they see me… giggling… I'll bet that flash from the other day was someone secretly taking a picture of us when we were at your house."

"What? I suppose that's possible, but-"

"We can hear you two in there!" a random teenager obnoxiously shouted at the closed stall door. This alone startled the two girls, and even more when the janitor knocked on the door.

"Come on out of there, you two! It's time to head out, and we adults don't have time for your games."

They both did as they were told, and as they were walking, they soon were met with a sneering crowd of teenagers.

"Oh, no, they're in trouble," one girl said sarcastically.

"Maybe they were having a little makeout session in one of the stalls," a boy joked, causing his friends to burst out laughing.

"Forget Rita, though. Wait till Father hears this about Cree! I mean, she's supposed to be a role model for teens, right?" a teen named Chuckie pointed out.

"Yeeeaaahhh. Just you wait until Father hears about this!"

"Maybe even your FAMILY," someone else added. "I mean, they'll all find out eventually-"

"What kind of friends ARE you?!"

As soon as they mentioned family, Cree felt her heart sink a little. She could take no more and walked towards the doors. Upon doing this, she activated her Battle Ready Armor and took to the sky.

"Cree, wait!" Rita tried to run after her, but was quickly grabbed by the other students and dragged away towards the bus.

"You're coming with us!"

And Rita was pulled away towards the school buses, as she could only worry for Cree's safety.


	4. Chapter 4: Tears of a Teen Ninja

Chapter Four: Tears of a Ninja

Rita sighed as she sat in the very back seat of the school bus. She looked up every once in a while to see a few students, different ones at times, looking back at her in a snide manner. By the time they had gotten to the bus stop, Rita got up and so did the other students, who had begun to hit Rita with the contents of their backpacks, some of them chanting "Rita likes Cree! Rita likes Cree!" and even calling her a few names as she struggled to get past them and off the bus. As soon as she got off the bus, she ran off as quick as she could to find Cree, leaving the others behind.

"HELLO? CREE?! Where are ya?" she looked around her surroundings, but no sign of Cree anywhere. That is until one instance one hour later, where she was walking by the fence around the woods area behind her house, when she heard something. It sounded like someone sniffling, weeping softly. She slowly and quietly made her way to where the noise was coming from… and surely enough, Cree was sitting on a chopped down tree in a near fetal position next to a small lake. As she cried, warm tears gently but steadily flowed down her cheeks and dripped into the water of the lake. She was still wearing her Battle Ready Armor.

"Cree…?" Cree looked up at her girlfriend as she sat down beside her. Rita looked around the forest, then back at Cree as she slowly put an arm around her back.

"It… it's n-not f-fair… it just isn't f-fair…" Cree quietly said in between sobs.

"Ah' know… them chuckleheads can be such jerks."

"No, it's not just that. *sniffle* It's not just my school life that I'm worried about. It's the other parts of my life as well…"

"What do ya mean by "other" parts of your life?..."

"I mean my future, soon and later on as I get older. Due to me even liking you… I probably won't get hired for several jobs, which means I won't get paid very much in the future… when I grow old, I'll possibly be denied health insurance and other important things… but... the worst part is… it's bad enough my FRIENDS acted the way they did… but…" at this point fresh tears formed in Cree's eyes. "What will my _family _think of me when they find out…? For all I know… they could disown me… cut me off… wouldn't love me anymore…" she then broke down crying once more. Rita simply just pulled her in for a nice, gentle hug to try and calm her down, which she eventually did, but still had tears rolling down her face. Rita then met Cree's gaze for a moment. The girl had such a soft, heartbroken look in her eyes, Rita couldn't bear to leave her to just go home feeling the way she does now. It'd feel like throwing her to the wolves.

"Ah'll tell ya what… how about ya stay over at mah place for the night?"

"*sniffle* … really…?"

"Yeah. Ah' hope that Ma and Pa are alright with havin' a pardner over on a school night, though…"

"*sniffle* Thank you~!"

Cree pulled Rita in for a snuggle as Rita smiled proudly and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"Let's git outta this dump. It ain't safe from what ah've heard." they both climbed back over to the other side of the fence and proceeded towards Rita's house.

The walk was a little long, matter of fact, it was around sunset when they arrived at their destination. However, Rita was determined to protect Cree from any more emotional pain and humiliation. She persistently knocked on the door to her house, and in a few moments, her mom opened the door.

"There you are, Rita! We thought you were lost!" Mrs. McKatsworth said, hugging her daughter before noticing that Cree was behind her.

"Oh? Why's your friend here?"

"It's a long story, Ma… she and ah' had a rough day during school today… lah'k, _real _rough, and we both agreed to sort things out at my house for the night. Is… that alright…?"

"Hmmm. Why don't you two come in for dinner, then I'll think about it."

The girls made their way into the kitchen, where Mrs. McKatsworth was making chicken and fried rice in bowls with chopsticks in each of them.

"Suppertime!" she called, getting her three younger kids' attention as they made their way to the dinner table, while Cree looked at one of the bowls on the counter. Rita appeared behind her and smiled.

"Your family uses chopsticks to eat?"

"Yeah, when we chow down on meals lah'k this. Let's just say that Ma's a bit of an… "international" cook," Rita says, chuckling to herself as she grabbed her bowl. "We can share this bowl together if ya want," she whispered in Cree's ear. "Hey, Ma, where can we eat?"

"Anywhere's fine by me, just don't get in any trouble," Mrs. McKatsworth replied. "But! Rita, come get your meds first." She plopped two sleeping pills into Rita's palm, who then placed the tablets into her mouth, downing them with some fruit juice. "Kay, thank you Ma!"

So the two girls went upstairs to eat their dinner in peace and quiet.

Once they got to Rita's room and sat down on the bed, they soon began to eat the delicacy before them, at instances, even feeding each other. They were soon in the midst of their meal when Cree broke the silence.

"Seriously though, three younger siblings? THREE? One's bad enough for me…" Cree said, taking a few pieces of chicken into her mouth.

"Eh, ah' get used to it over tah'm," Rita replied. "Ah'm pretty chill despite my usual grumpy mood. Anyway… about yer parents…" Rita said before putting a handful of rice in her mouth and chewing it rather quickly so she could finish her sentence.

"Yes…?"

Rita swallowed the last bit of rice that was in her mouth.

"Cree… ah'm sure they wouldn't react THAT badly, ah' mean look at ME. My parents know that ah'm the way ah' am, and you don't see them reacting so harshly towards me, now do ya-" Cree stopped her by gently putting a hand over Rita's mouth.

"That's just the thing, Rita… your parents KNOW you're the way you are…" she whispered audibly. "My parents, on the other hand… they're completely oblivious…" Cree said, as she gradually began to choke up. "I… I just don't know how to tell them… without burning our bridge…" her eyes began to water once more. "I just feel so ashamed…" she hung her head and let a warm salty tear escape her right eye. Rita sighed.

"Welp…" she began. "If only ah' were able to control what your parents thought about this kinda thing…" Rita put her arm around Cree's shoulders in a side hug. "Ah' believe you'll just have to take a shot in the dark and hope for the best to occur…"

Cree's face didn't change. She was much too stressed out and upset from today's events to even think about telling anyone else. Rita noticed the teardrop on the tip of Cree's nose and gently wiped it off with her finger.

"But… let's not worry about all that now… cuz now… it's just me n' you..." Cree met Rita's gaze at this point, a small blush growing on her cheeks. Rita softly nuzzled her wet cheek and pulled her in for a nice cuddle before beginning to kiss her cheek. Gently… yet passionately.

"Th-thanks…~" Cree purred shyly, kissing Rita on the lips.

They kissed in bed for a long time and caressed each other gently. This went on for a few minutes before they both decided to fall asleep, tenderly snuggled up against each other. Rita pulled her sheets over her and Cree. They then quickly fell sound asleep.

Meanwhile, while those two were sound asleep, Numbuh 5, outside of the window, ushered her friends to climb up with her, which they do, and they wound up looking through the blinds and seeing the two teens cuddling in Rita's bed.

"see? I told you guys!... just look at them…" she whispered to them as they all observed.

"Okay, so let me get this straight. She wants to date girls now…?" Numbuh 2 began, obviously jealous as he had a crush on Cree.

"Well-"

"Yet she rejects ME? Hmph."

"Sh! That's not the point, you fool! It weirds me out knowing that Cree is dating Rita... I mean, just a bit-"

"It's alright, Numbuh 5. It weirds us out, too," Numbuh 4 said, trying to console his friend.

"And now that we have evidence… I see now that I was wrong, teens are that weird. Now we must figure out what makes two girls like each other instead of boys like they normally do," Numbuh 1 ordered as they got down from the top floor of Rita's house.

"We'll find out eventually… right?" Numbuh 3 asked quietly.

"It will be quite an unusual mission… but, yes."


	5. Chapter 5: Trouble

Chapter Five: Trouble

"Bill? We have a problem," a worried Mrs. Lincoln called to her husband as she walked to the living room. "Cree has not shown up since school got out today, nor did she show up later zis evening to have dinner. Do you know where she might have gone?"

"Well I didn't hear anything from the school or anything, with the phone calls or the emails, so she couldn't have stayed after school hours," Mr. Lincoln replied.

"Maybe-" almost instantly, Mrs. Lincoln was met with a feeling of epiphany. "I believe I might know JUST where she's hanging out…"

Mrs. Lincoln rushed over to the house phone, grumbling under her breath in French as she dialed the number… to Rita's house.

Meanwhile, the McKatsworth family was sound asleep in their beds, when their house phone rang. Mr. McKatsworth snorted awake, followed by groggy, frustrated ranting under his breath as he slowly made his way downstairs to the ringing telephone. When he finally made it, he picked up the phone, holding it to his ear.

"Howdy, McKatsworth Residence…?"

"Hello? Is zis Monsieur McKatsworth? I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions."

"A'ight…?"

"Is my oldest daughter in your home?"

"Ah' saw her walk in here earlier, yes…" Mr. McKatsworth had become more and more suspicious at this point in the conversation.

"Oui? Well… we had no idea where she had gone up until a few moments earlier. Neither had ze school zis afternoon."

"What?"

Cree was soon awoken by the sound of Rita's stepdad shouting into the phone. She knew that it was her parents talking with him, and that she would soon be back in a state of worry and angst. Her heavy, slow, shaky breaths soon woke up Rita.

"Hey… what's the matter…?" then she, too, overheard the sound of her stepdad talking to the phone.

"Your dad… I think he's talking to my parents… we forgot to ask them permission to stay over at your place…"

"Oh… ah'm so sorry, Cree. Ah' shoulda thought of that first. *sigh* wonder what my punishment will be…" Rita grumbled, facepalming.

"I really hope we aren't separated from each other by our parents…"

"Yeah, that would be bad-" suddenly there was a knock on the bedroom door.

"Margherita Jacqueline McKatsworth, front and center. Now. Cree, you too." it was Rita's mom this time. Obviously she didn't sound too happy, knowing that she had worried her girlfriend's parents.

"Comin', Ma," Rita shamefully answered as they opened the door and walked downstairs to confront Rita's frustrated parents.

"Cree, your parents are on their way here to come get you, and they sounded very upset on the phone," Mrs. McKatsworth said sternly. Cree now donned a very worried expression as a few tears of angst welled up in her eyes.

"M-m-my parents? N-no…"

"Yes, Cree. You had them both worried sick. Now the two of you march out there and wait for them to arrive."

The girls trudged out into the front yard of the house to wait for Cree's parents, and while doing so, Cree's trembling got gradually more violent with each couple steps. Matter of fact, Cree was trembling so much at that point, that when they had stopped walking, she could barely stand up straight. All while Rita tried her best to hold onto her.

"I… I really don't want to go home, Rita… I wanna s-stay here…" Cree whimpered, squeezing Rita tightly around her ribs to try and keep herself from weeping.

"And ah'd like you to stay as well, but… it's too late…"

Soon enough, a car pulled up and its front window rolled down, revealing Mrs. Lincoln.

"We're here, now get in, young lady," she ordered as Cree very hesitantly walked to the back door of the vehicle, opened it, then climbed in. Fastening her seatbelt, she then squeezed her eyes shut and covered them with one hand, letting out a quiet tearful sigh to herself, and finally closing the door. With that, the car drove off.

After that emotional moment, Rita slowly walked back into her house. She was about to walk back upstairs to her room when she was interrupted.

"Hold up, Rita! We're not done yet. The next time you invite a friend to our house and we get a call from their parents saying that they didn't get permission to come over, you will not be allowed to have ANYONE over for at least two to three weeks. Do I make myself clear?"

Rita slowly nodded her head. "Yes, ma'am."

"Now, you march yourself up to bed, and go STRAIGHT to sleep. That means no texting or calling anyone."

"Yes, ma'am," Rita softly sighed once more as she did what she was told.

Meanwhile, the Lincolns were on their way back to their house, Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln still pretty upset that Cree had disobeyed them without them even knowing.

"Cree, we cannot begin to tell you how disappointed we are right now," Mr. Lincoln grumbled.

"All you had to do was ask us a simple question; 'mama, papa, I want to go to Rita's house tonight'. But instead, you sneak over 'zere," Mrs. Lincoln added.

"And to top it all off, you worried your bus driver and many other adults at the school. We HOPE this isn't leading to you two playin' hooky just to go to friend's houses!"

"I-I'm really sorry, dad…" Cree meekly said.

"We know you are sorry. And to make sure you are _really _sorry… we will not let you go over to any friends' houses until further notice. 'Zat includes your boyfriend." Cree said no more and simply just hung her head sadly.

The Lincolns soon arrived home, and shortly got themselves to bed. However, when Cree got into her room and onto her bed, Mrs. Lincoln stopped by her doorway.

"Now, you go straight to sleep. Zat means no texting or calling ANYONE of ze sort." Then Mr. Lincoln stopped beside her.

"And remember, Cree; we aren't angry with you… just disappointed in your poor decision that you made. Understand that?"

"Yes, Dad…"

"We will have a sit down tomorrow after school for you to tell us WHY you ditched the rest of school and didn't come home today. Until 'zen… bonne nuit." Mrs. Lincoln closed the door to Cree's bedroom, leaving Cree to sulk under her blankets for a while before drifting off to sleep. At least she TRIED to go to sleep. But she couldn't stop thinking about Rita. About how she could've been punished that night by her mom and dad. About how she herself wishes to tirn back time… and see her newfound love… and stay with her the whole night…


	6. Chapter 6: Dream A Little Dream of Me

Chapter Six: Dream A Little Dream

_Stars shining bright above you…_

_Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you…"_

Cree began to sing softly as she looked over at her window, her heart fluttering while good memories of the night flooded her brain.

_Birds singin' in the sycamore tree,_

_Dream a little dream of me..._

Rita too had begun to sing softly while she laid there in her bed and looked over at her window…

_Say nighty night and kiss me,_

_Just hold me tight and tell me you'll miss me_

Cree and Rita were both singing now. It felt to both of as though they were harmonizing- even though they were many miles away from each other.

_While I'm lonely and blue as can be_

_Dream a little dream of me..._

The two had finished their song and had finally gone to sleep in the warmth of their own beds.


	7. Chapter 7: The Truth

Chapter Seven: The Truth

The next sunrise shone down upon the Earth, as Rita slowly rose awake from her bed, ready for possibly another bad day at school. As she went downstairs, she heard her stepdad mutter; "good mornin'..." in a rather grouchy manner that gave the impression that her parents are still frustrated with her for having disobeyed them. She hesitantly made her way to the cereal bar, took out a box of Frosted Flakes and a bowl, and filled it with the sugary flakes, along with plenty of milk.

While she chowed down on her breakfast, she thought to herself… _should I tell ma and pa what's __**really**_ _going on?..._

However, she didn't want to feel like she was letting Cree down by sharing their relationship with anyone else, but her mom was the one she had trusted most her entire life, so at least they'd understand that she was only protecting Cree. Soon she had finished all of her cereal.

"Ma? Pa? A'd like to speak to y'all in private about something. Please come upstairs."

They had all made their way into Rita's room and Rita had sat down in front of them.

"Why did you bring us up here? Let alone want to speak in private with us?" Mrs. McKatsworth asked.

"Wait a sec'n… it's about Cree, ain't it?" Mr. McKatsworth added to the question.

"Yes, but please hear me out! Ya see…" she motioned Mrs. McKatsworth to bring her ear to her face, to which Rita quietly told her mom about how she and Cree got together not too long ago. Mrs. McKatsworth's eyes widened a little, but nodded as if she was somehow expecting this kind of confession, as she knew her daughter well over the years.

"And?" she questioned her daughter for a better explanation. "What's your excuse for keeping her at our house without asking her parents first?" Rita then sighed.

"Cuz yesterday she was gettin' teased at school because of it… granted we BOTH got picked on, but she was given the bigger half of the incident and… let's just say her self esteem n' overall confidence was purdy dang low after school… so a' took her here where she'd feel safe… at least for the night… look, a'm mighty sorry for kickin' up trouble. It won't happen again without us askin' first..."

Her parents just looked at her silently, until Mrs. McKatsworth let out a sigh.

"I should've known… I appreciate your efforts to keep her happy." she hugged her daughter lightly as Mr. McKatsworth spoke as well.

"We apologize fer bein' so harsh on ya." He patted her on the back.

"A' just dunno how her parents will react… when THEY find out…"

"I'm sure they'd understand why… now get your backpack, you don't wanna miss the school bus!"

"Sure thang," Rita replied as she picked up her bag and rushed downstairs. "See y'all!"

Shortly Rita's bus had arrived at the high school whilst all the teens had exited and headed for the building's double doors. As Rita made her way through the doors, she was immediately met with a rather worried looking Cree, who rushed to Rita as soon as their eyes met.

"What seems to be… troublin' ya?"

"My parents want to have a mandatory sit down after school today… there's no way out of this one. I cannot run away again, because mom and dad would just assum-" before Cree could speak, the school principal came up to them and cleared his throat.

"Ms. McKatsworth, Ms. Lincoln, I need you both in my office immediately."

A few other students must've overheard him, because some of them were pointing and giggling, catching the principal's attention.

"All of you, cut it out and get to your classes, or I'll have to write referrals," he firmly stated as they all dispersed, some still chuckling under their breath.

The principal led them down one of the hallways until they got to the front office. He opened the door, gesturing the two girls into the room, to which they slowly walked in and sat down in the two chairs in front of the principal's desk.

"So… the school faculty and I have addressed many concerns in the past day or so. Cree, you weren't seen during the last 10 minutes of school yesterday. Matter of fact, all we found was your bicycle on the rack after all the buses were dismissed. Quite a few of us also overheard some… suggestive chatter from the students almost all day, and the janitor even reported to us saying that he found you two in a stall at the girls' restroom. Now neither of you are in any trouble, but I'm going to have to ask you two a serious question."

The principal then proceeded to open a drawer and begin searching through it until… he found a small piece of paper… and flipped it around for the girls to see what it was.

It was the picture of Cree and Rita that had secretly been taken the other day… Cree was shaking profusely at what was held before her, while Rita was more pissed off than anything. The principal then spoke once again.

"This exact photograph has apparently spread all over the campuses of both the middle and high school. Any questions or explanations?" that was when Cree blurted out the first question that popped up in her head.

"Yes! Who took that picture and WHO'S BEEN HANDING OUT THE COPIES OF IT?"

"We soon found out that the instigator of all this was a young 13-year-old boy from the middle school by the name of Chad Dickson."

The girls were left surprised and speechless at the same time, until Cree broke the silence once again.

"What!... but… Chad's my FRIEND, he… HOW could he DO this to me?" Cree's fists were now clenched in betrayal.

"We don't know that," the principal replied. "However, we're working to catch him in the act if it happens anymore."

"Yes, sir," they both said quietly.

"That will be all I have to inform you. Now the two of you make your ways to class, and stay out of trouble."

"Yes, sir," they said for the final time before exiting the room.

After that, it was yet another long, stressful string of insults and homophobic behavior from many peers. An example being in Rita's art period, where a couple classmates passed a note around until it made its way to Rita. She opened the crumpled up note, displaying a crude, and rather inappropriate drawing of her and Cree with copies of that darn photo plastered around it. Equally crude writing was displayed above the visuals that said: "Tell anyone about this, we tell Father on your gf! Lol." This caused Rita to cringe a little bit and then shake her head in disgust. She turned to see her peers snickering at her reaction. She sighed and went back to whatever she was working on.

By the end of the day, the two were stressed put and humiliated beyond belief and couldn't wait to get out of this hell hole that they once saw as a friendly place. But Cree… she felt absolutely betrayed by everyone. Why was she getting the bigger half of all this cruelty? Nobody should be treated this way! When Rita saw the forlorn look on her face, she walked slowly towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder and sadly frowned with her.

"A' know… ya think ya know some people… let's go…" just as they exited the school-

"Eeeugh, look! They're holding hands!" one girl yelled.

"Wha- no!" Cree nervously stuttered back.

"Yeah you were!"

Some of the other students walked toward the two.

"Wh-why are you guys doing this to me? And Rita? We're not hurting anyone!"

"Awww, boo-hoo!" a 15-year-old boy taunted. "The girl-smoocher feels oppressed. Deal with it!" he proceeded to chuck a football at her stomach, causing her to yelp in pain. The others just laughed at her. The boy spoke again.

"So much for a role model, huh girl-smoocher? We never thought you'd stoop so low as this. Guess we thought wrong." the teens began laughing all over again, some of them chanting "girl-smoocher" over and over again. Cree just sat there on her hands and knees still clutching where the football had hit her. She felt herself getting angry for a moment… but that anger quickly turned to tears as she tried to hold back her emotions as she didn't want to give her bullies the pleasure of watching her cry. All while Rita simply looked down at her poor broken girlfriend, with complete worry plastered onto her face. Rita's eyes then averted to the laughing crowd before them as her expression of worry contorted into one of slowly escalating rage.

"Stop! Y'all, this ain't some'n to laugh about! Knock it off already!" they didn't listen and continued teasing the two. Until one threw a banana peel from his lunch box at Cree's head. And that was the ultimate blowing point for Rita. Her teeth grew sharp. Her nails became claws. And her arms and some parts of her face donned stripes as she snarled louder, then finally snapped.

"A'… SAID… KNOCK! IT! **OFF!**" she roared out before lunging at all of them, causing them to scatter in all directions, then turn around to face her.

"A'IGHT, LISTEN UP, Y'ALL. A'VE HAD _MORE_ THAN _ENOUGH _OF ALL YER TOMFOOLERY! A' mean, just LOOKIT YERSELVES! Y'all let yerselves become bullyin' sidewinders and turn against poor Cree n a' all because some dingbat showed you a DADGUM PICTURE? DadGUM, are y'all MIGHTY SHALLOW or WHAT!"

"Oh shut up, Rita," one teen said.

"A'll SHUT UP when a' FEEL LIKE SHUTTIN UP, YA YELLOW-BELLY," Rita snapped. "Y'know, a'm actually purdy alright with y'all pickin' on ME, but a' expect WAY better treatment towards HER!" Rita scolded, pointing towards Cree. "Y'all are her pals AND her allies of the teen ninjas. She don't deserve to be treated like dirt because of one thang. No one does!" Rita was now beginning to calm down, but her voice remained firm. "She's a strong, beautiful gal, and deserves equally good treatment." Rita was now helping Cree get up, and just as they were about to leave, Rita turned around and spoke one last time:

"And a' assure y'all that the two of US ain't the only ones in this world who like different thangs from most other folks. And NOW a'll shut up. Hopefully my rant done knocked some sense into yer closed minds. Have a nice rest of your day." the two of them then walked off, leaving everyone else possibly thinking about their actions.

"Th-thank you so much, Rita…" Cree whimpered, now on the verge of happy tears.

"Hey… anyone who messes with Rita's loved ones, messes with Rita herself," Rita smiled.

However, to their surprise, the McKatsworths' car was in the parking lot.

"Huh… strange. What's Ma's car doin' here?" that was when her mom walked out from behind the car, and she seemed very proud, to say the least.

"Well, hello there!" she chirped, practically beaming ear to ear as she walked towards the girls. "If you're wondering why I'm here… I told the bus that I would pick you and Cree up from school today, since you both are going through tough times. Come on!"

"Wait! Let me get my bike first," Cree said as she rushed to the bike rack and grabbed her bicycle. She was in such a hurry to get in the car that she didn't notice that the phrase "girl-smoocher" had been written and painted all over her bike…


End file.
